After eight years, a second summer issue of Interni entirely devoted to the island of the sun and its remarkable resources, a source of infinite stimuli for design culture.
The issue in 2009 focused on Palermo and its New Deal. This year the accent is on the eastern Hyblaean ‘region,’ a place of rugged nature, between the greenery of the Mediterranean brush and the warm golden tones of stone, a place where Goethe understood the graceful features, passing through Noto, Ragusa, Modica, all the way to the pre-oasis of Vendicari: the area with the highest density of Unesco heritage sites in the world, cherished for its architectural-artistic and landscape treasures.
We set out to discover houses where contemporary design, in the interpretations of different architects from Sicily, as well as a colony of ‘continentals,’ is synonymous with reconciliation with existing features, and the enhancement of a territory and its genius loci. Incredible Sicily!
An atelier of renovation, where experiencing history today also means innovation, starting from the virtues of tradition: forms, colors, aromas, flavors, materials. Hence the recurring photographs of surfaces in pietra pece and golden tuff, typical of the local Baroque, ceilings woven with reeds, plaster and wooden beams, lime stucco and natural pigments in earthy tones.
And, finally, the unforgettable ceramics and majolica, which from Caltagirone to Sciacca, Burgio to Santo Stefano di Camastra, become the stuff of invention in the skilled hands of local craftsmen.
Virtuoso feats are on view at every scale of design intervention. Another interesting factor is represented by the many Sicilian designers who have met with success outside their native land, as have many design and wine entrepreneurs active on the island, all conveying a vivid sense of an evolving and optimistic Sicily.
